by Charlie Wagner

Angry residents shot down a Sonoma County proposal for a
homeless service center in the LGBT-friendly town of Guerneville earlier this
year, as the tourism-dependent area struggles to develop next steps to deal
with what some call a growing issue.

After county officials announced a $1 million plan to buy a
small horse ranch on Armstrong Woods Road for the center, residents packed a
meeting of the Sonoma County Community Development Commission, which is tasked
with managing the homeless population.

Exact figures on the number of homeless weren't available
(the county's Point-In-Time count is slated for next year), but some residents
estimate it to be around 200 people.

While small compared to the thousands of homeless people living
on the streets in San Francisco and other Bay Area cities, Guerneville
residents have raised concerns about tent encampments near the Russian River
and the possibility of water pollution from trash and human waste.

According to the SCCDC website, the proposed center would have
provided substance abuse counseling, primary care, dental care, and other
services and would have contained a seasonal emergency shelter with 25-35 beds.
County employees and possibly volunteers would have staffed it.

The April SCCDC meeting drew hundreds of people, including Sonoma
County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district includes Guerneville. Groups represented
included the Guerneville Community Alliance, formed by Mark Emmett and other
residents, and the Committee to Protect Guerneville School Children, Seniors,
and Environment.

Five locations in and near Guerneville were discussed at the
meeting. Attendees were given green dots to place on a board to indicate which
location they favored, although only Armstrong Woods was immediately available.
News reports on the meeting suggested most residents opposed any new shelter
and favored continuing to use the Veterans Building in town, which operates a
seasonal winter shelter from December to March.

Not everyone agrees on what most residents want.

"I don't think the majority of residents favor the
status quo," Hopkins said in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter.
"Most of the green dots were on the other locations."

Emmett said, "Unless we want to expand our
infrastructure with more ambulances and deputies, most residents oppose a new
shelter."

Debra Johnson, the broker-owner of the Berkshire-Hathaway real
estate office in Guerneville, said, "For people at the April meeting, the
answer is yes, they oppose any change. But lots of people are afraid and
there's no easy solution."

Johnson is one of the organizers of what she calls the
"Garbage Patch Kids." Her group works with local environmental
organizations like Riverkeeper and Clean River Alliance to keep homeless
encampments from spilling garbage and human waste into the Russian River.

In early May Hopkins said the county was no longer pursuing
the Armstrong Woods property and was planning alternative strategies, according
to the Sonoma West newspaper.

"We're changing our approach based on community
feedback," she told the paper.

According to the county's Homeless Management Information
System, over 70 percent of people who are homeless in the river area were
housed in the river area prior to becoming homeless.

Hopkins could not confirm that statistic but believes a
"significant portion" of homeless people come from the local area.

Johnson said the 70 percent figure sounds about right. She
said that the existing winter shelter is "behaviorally-based," which
means the person's only obligation is to conduct themselves in an acceptable
way inside. The shelter does not require a person to be completely sober when
they enter, but consumption of alcohol or drugs on the premises is not
permitted.

Johnson dismissed the idea that the winter shelter is a
desirable place drawing homeless people from out of town.

"It's laughable that anyone would come to Guerneville
to use our shelter, as the people sleep on the floor, have one shower to share
between 38 to 40 people and can only be there between 5 p.m. and 7 a.m.,"
she said. The only meal the homeless get is a dinner provided by community
volunteers.

Although its operations are limited to a few months, Johnson
claimed the shelter is a life-saver. "Before the shelter opened last
December and after it closed in March, we saw an average of one person per
month die," she said.

Wendy Bignall, a lesbian resident of Guerneville, also cited
the 70 percent figure.

"I am not an advocate of homeless people as much as an
advocate of better management of the homeless issue," Bignall said. She
also noted that, "Lots of homeless people actually have jobs but still
cannot afford to rent an apartment."

Bignall started working with the homeless in late 2015 when
she joined Clean River Alliance. "I visited my first homeless encampment
shortly after I joined CRA and felt a wide range of emotions, from 'these
assholes are ruining the river' to 'how can this happen in America?'" she
said.

She described how about 50 encampments that existed in early
2016 have been consolidated into five current camps, moving people away from the
river to avoid polluting it. Bignall observed first-hand how "the camp
residents started to make the connection that they were part of our
community."

The 'War Zone'

Bignall and a reporter visited one camp, which currently has
between 26 and 30 residents. Though the county has not legalized the
encampment, the residents are working to meet three conditions sought by the
health department: trash pickup, proper sewage treatment, and a drinkable water
supply. Residents have achieved the first two already.

Camp resident Linda Del Castillo explained how she had been
living in a trailer in Duncans Mills until a flood rendered it uninhabitable.
"It was full of mold and I had to leave almost everything behind,"
she said. She is personally involved in organizing the camp and is the
unofficial manager of the "pantry," which they hope will serve the
entire camp.

Her friend and fellow resident Glynis Moeller calls their
organizing group the Independent Coalition for the Residentially-Challenged.
But Del Castillo has a more serious nickname for the camp itself: the War Zone.

Perhaps the most contentious issue among locals is the
impact of the homeless on local crime. Guerneville is served by the Sonoma
County Sheriff's office due to its non-city status and the local sheriff's
station was slated for a staffing cut. But Hopkins said that cut was canceled and
the recently approved county budget included $300,000-$400,000 to maintain
current staffing levels.

Hopkins said that, "people with more challenging mental
health issues tend to stay in town rather than in the woods."

Emmett believes law enforcement is key and claims that
arrest logs show incidents are up to 60 percent homeless-related.

Johnson described how about two years ago the Russian River
Chamber of Commerce hired a private security team for patrolling downtown. After
several homeless-related incidents in late April, the sheriff's office responded
by increasing patrols.

Sonoma West prints excerpts from the sheriff's office daily
log, with entries ranging from "dumping/littering" to "assault
with a deadly weapon." Most are for non-violent incidents. Between May 9-14,
45 incidents were reported and two were "homeless-related." For May
15-21, 44 incidents were reported and five were homeless-related. The most
serious of the seven was for "display of weapon."

During the recent budget hearings, Hopkins pushed hard for
extra funds to provide homeless services in the lower Russian River area, which
includes Guerneville. The budget approved in June includes $1 million for this
purpose and SCCDC is developing new proposals to present to the public.

Funding for permanent housing may also be considered in the
future.

"I would support permanent housing if it is done
right," Emmett said. "We're for solutions."

Johnson said, "My goal in life is permanent housing. I
want to do what we can to help, rather than spend $300K for the sheriff to get
the homeless to scoot along."

Hopkins, who was elected in November 2016, remains
optimistic. "I'm lucky to represent a constituency who are passionate
about community," she said. "In the future, I'd like to see more solutions-oriented
discussions."